A personally-assigned relocation consultant to each employee around the clock

A personally-assigned relocation professional to each client

We are striving to embrace the unknown and paving the way for an enjoyable relocation experience.

Family assistance

Relocating has been identified in third position on the Life Stress Scale, so supporting and facilitating assignees during relocation assignments has proved to be a vital and most welcomed service. Our Mobility Division provides Family Assistance and Transition Support Program which minimizes stress and ensures the general wellbeing of the family. This results in a successful and beneficial relocation for the employee and ultimately for the employer as well.

Preparation prior to travel

The assignee will complete a needs analysis questionnaire and, based on this, our team will prepare an itinerary for the pending visit and research areas that have been hightlighed in the Needs Analysis to ensure our services offers a full experience for the assignee and family. The completed itinerary will be forwarded to the assignee prior to their departure from their home country. The itinerary will include all criteria specified in the needs analysis questionnaire and provide a level of flexibility for the assignee and family to request some changes.

Orientation / preview trip

A Relocation Africa consultant will accompany the assignee on a personalised preview trip. The focus is to familiarise them with the work environment, local living conditions, visit suitable residential neighbourhoods, schools (if required), civic amenities, etc. This provides a comprehensive overview of the cultural and socio-economic climate of the city and country into which they will be relocating. The trip will include viewing houses and/or apartments and schools which match the criteria specified in the needs analysis questionnaire.

Property services

The services range from Temporary Accommodation, Short Term Accommodation, as well as long term property searches The search can extend to include the purchase of property however, the fees and services differ from the regular long term property search. The services aim to ensure that the search is done in accordance with the Needs Analysis and areas viewed to suit these specified needs. The property services includes the introduction of domestic help, landscaping and garden services, pool and property maintenance, home security, property and tenancy management services. It can also include interim accommodation solutions such as hotels, B & B’s or self-catering facilities.

Educational requirements

Our mobility division provides introductions to appropriate primary, secondary and tertiary educational institutions. This is focused to meet the needs of the assignee and the family as stipulated in the needs analysis questionnaire. The consultant will advise the assignee of the relevant paperwork and documentation required (e.g.: immunizations, certificate of residency etc.). And ensure that the children have all the required uniforms and stationary for starting at their new school.

Move management

To facilitate our corporate clients our team will co-ordinate with international movers (ideally FIDI approved members) for the movement of their assignees household goods . The benefit for offering this is that the corporate receives one vendor and cost benefits as we are able to negotiate the moves with the best providers available. Our team also has experience in the moving industry and is able to assist in driving costs down for the corporate client. Once a moving specialist has been selected by the assignee to move their household goods, vehicles, pets etc. The Mobility Team continues to manage the move thereafter and thus the time spent on the relocation process does not impinge on corporate time.

Settling in Services

This program is designed to acclimatise assignees with the local area and to familiarise them with local facilities such as shopping centres, sports centres, medical facilities, police stations, libraries and various local authorities. This service provides assistance with the registration for local services. Our consultants offer extremely useful tips on mundane things and small day-to-day issues (e.g.: traveling times and traffic bottlenecks, alternate routes in peak hour traffic, safe and unsafe areas after certain hours, who to approach and not to approach for help or directions, precautions taken when using an ATM, etc.). The service extends to physically opening bank accounts, registering for utility services etc.

Departure package

Our mobility team will advise the assignee on the relevant documentation required by the local authorities on departure from the host country. The consultant will negotiate the return of deposits with regards to their rental property. Through the use of a property inventory they will assist the assignee to avoid any potential legal claims over the condition of that property. Other services include and utility disconnections.

Repatriation management

Most repatriates have a corporate relocation policy which needs to be followed from the time of departure through to the repatriation in the home country. Relocation Africa’s consultants are able to provide a comprehensive explanation and interpretation of the policy, and to assist the assignee with the best implementation thereof.

Repatriation transition support

Reverse culture shock can be more difficult to manage than the challenges of adapting to a new country. There are many professional programs available developed to assist with the reintegration from host to home country. The three major areas of adjustment are personal, professional and organizational. These programs are designed to offer additional support to ease the transition back into the home culture. Please refer to our Division on Training for more information.

Training

Managing Diversity: The Power of Difference

The Diversity training program is explicitly designed to support the needs of global organisations that use strategic expatriate movement to achieve their goals or working across different cultures. The success of an organisation’s future relies on its ability to adapt and integrate across cultures. The complexities of a global organisation’s culture are often unspoken. Therefore, organisations that seek to understand the multi-layered, diverse leadership of their teams are changing the future. The Power of Difference will introduce participants to the fundamentals of diversity management, learn and practice intercultural skills, and how to deal with differences constructively.

Organisations today, are realizing the effect the emotional intelligence of their leaders has on team productivity. Cross-cultural communication dynamics between home and host countries are the focus of this short-term program targeted at their staff and their leadership teams. Each day of customized training explores a different way of looking at how to leverage diversity and develop effective team dynamics. This one day program is targeted at the staff member or team who is working in a different environment to his/her own or staff /team that deal /work with other staff from different cultures and need to collaborate as a team.

Afterwards, assignees in emerging and global organisations can begin to design and plan their self, team and organisational strategies to complement the political and cultural complexities they face. For both the assignee and organisation, the diversity training program specifically addresses the needs of global leadership development. Equipping participants with communication strategies, managing diversity tools and awareness of their responsibility to lead communities, this program is supplemented by growth options depending on the needs and requirements of any one individual or team.

Do you have a highly diverse employee population? Are you not leveraging the full potential of this diversity?

Are you an organisation that operates from different offices within South Africa, is growing into Africa or has different global locations?

Would you like to tap into the business benefits of managing diversity, strengthen and enhance your organisational culture?

Our language training programme offers TEFL English classes for assignees within their organisations on a one-on-one basis or for small groups at all levels – beginners to advanced – aimed at executives with English as a second language who would like to improve their knowledge and use of the language, whether for professional or personal reasons. We can also arrange training for assignee’s spouses and/or children, in-house at our offices or within the privacy of their own homes.

We can source, arrange and provide tutors for other European and African Languages within the assignees’ host countries.

"Hello Muriel! I hope you are doing well as we get ready to head into another week. We feel so blessed to have met you and have you working on our behalf as we relocate to Accra, Ghana.
Again, thanks for taking the time to understand how I'm feeling and for the work you're doing for our family. I hope you have a great week. Blessings, Ramie"(Ghana)